MT 310: Introduction to Abstract Algebra, Fall 2009

This page pertains to both sections (MWF11 and MWF12 @ Fulton 115).

The instructor is Jonathan Pottharst.

His email is (first eight letters of his last name)@bc.edu,
his office is 254 Carney, and
his hours are MWF10 or by appointment.
Students are encouraged to arrange alternate appointment times if MWF10 does not work!

Most course information, including grading and policies, can be found in the syllabus. All students ought to familiarize themselves with this document.

Homework assignments

Number	Date Due	Assignment	LaTeX template file	Solutions
1	Mon 14 Sept 2009	pdf, tex	tex	pdf tex
2	Mon 21 Sept 2009	pdf, tex	tex	pdf tex
3	Mon 05 Oct 2009	pdf, tex	tex	pdf tex
4	Wed 14 Oct 2009	pdf, tex	tex	pdf tex
5	Wed 23 Oct 2009	pdf, tex	tex	pdf tex
6	Mon 16 Nov 2009	pdf, tex	tex	pdf tex
7	Fri 20 Nov 2009	pdf, tex	tex	pdf tex

Midterm solutions

Date	Solutions
26 Oct	pdf, tex

Handouts

Date	File	What
16 Sept	pdf tex	Equivalent conditions for units in Z/m
30 Sept	pdf tex	Multiplication table for S₃
14 Oct	pdf tex	Least common multiples
23 Nov	pdf tex	Computations in quotients of polynomial rings

LaTeX resources

Assignments in this course

To make things easier, students are provided with template files to enter their homeworks into. (The files also contain some hints, on math and on LaTeX, in the comments.)

Using the language

The canonical reference is Lamport's book.
Several good references are listed here. I particularly recommend the item lshort.pdf.
The American Mathematical Society's discussion of the features they added to LaTeX is useful.
The external links on Wikipedia's entry might be helpful.

Installation

Mac OS X:: Use MacTeX. Demos and additional software (editors, toys) are also available from that link.
Windows:: Use MikTeX. For an editor, try WinEdt or TeXnicCenter. Additional information can be found here.
Linux:: You probably don't need my help.